Lydia and I decided (rather last-minute on my end) to attend the 2009 Hampton Roads NaNoWriMo Kick Off Party together.  After I was already in the car, I found out it was a costume party.  This is one of those times when being a homeschooler comes in super handy.  Our dress up box runneth over and within 3 minutes, Mashi and I were on our way with a grass skirt on me and a lei on him.

We arrived at Kelly’s at did not see anyone in costume.  Not a single person.  Dread began to set it.  But then, Lydia texted me the magic words “I’m here!” and all was well.  We were informed that the NaNo group was upstairs in a private-ish area. As we shuffled up the stairs, I was relieved beyond imagining that others were in costume, including one of the most beautiful corseted gowns I have ever laid eyes on.  I could feel the “fresh meat” sign flashing on my head.

Two vodka tonics later, its was time for all the fresh meat to sing a cover of a typical nursery rhyme, such as Mary Had a Little Lamb or I’m a Little Tea Pot.  The words had been altered to be about writing, but the melodies were supposed to stay the same.  I started sweating so much I asked Lydia if I had pit stains, even though I was wearing black. I was sweating that much.  Because I don’t know any of these rhymes and I was third in line to sing.  Alone.  A cover of London Bridge is Falling Down, which I never learned because I didn’t speak English until I was 8 or so.

I tried to quickly construct a cover of Alla-Li, a Greek nursery rhyme about a songbird who is set free from her cage, but the pressure was too much.  There was nothing I could do.  I had to confess the truth.  “I don’t know this song,” I told the group, “and would greatly appreciate some help.”  And boy did I get it.  Twenty people, give or take, sung me through a cover of a song I didn’t know and it sounded great.   I liked this crowd so much that it was time for another vodka tonic.

I got a plot bunny, got bling for my plot bunny, traded magic tricks, birthing stories, bra malfunction histories, and best of all… played the question game.  If you are not sure what that is, ask Jeremy.  During the question game, I realized that this group was not a group of writers, per se, but a group of very creative souls who also happened to write.  It was like finding the punk/outcast/Geek/drama tribe at High School, except this time we were the cool fabulous ones (in corsets and capes) and everyone else seemed dull and dim-witted in comparison.

The best part of the whole evening is that not a single person ever asked me “So, what do you do?” I got questions like “what do you write about?” or “where do you live?” or “how many children do you have?”  But none of that status identifying “what do you do?” question, which is really a cover for “how much do you make?”  I was in heaven.  Alix shared one decadent drag of her cigarette with me, to top it all off.  It was an amazing evening and you can read more about it Lydia’s Norfolk Books Examiner’s page and see more images at her NaNoWriMo 2009 Flickr set (all these pics are from her set!)

Gratitude to organizers, back-up singers, plot bunny makers, bunny blingers, supreme questioners, marvelous magicians, delicious decolletage, and everyone else who made this the bestest most funnest (and only) hazing I’ve ever participated in.